An Unconventional Miss. Dorothy Elbury

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СКАЧАТЬ ‘I’ll never forgive myself—’

      ‘No harm done, I promise you!’ she returned, hurriedly patting his hand, then, after a moment’s hesitation, she gave him an apologetic smile. ‘Apart from the loss of all our money, that is,’ she added ruefully.

      ‘Oh, good,’ he replied, clearly still in something of a daze. ‘Hadn’t we best get on our way, then?’

      Then, taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders, gripped hold of the gig’s side-rail and attempted to haul himself up on to the driving seat. Almost immediately, he felt himself swaying backwards and, had not a pair of powerful arms reached out and caught hold of him, he would surely have fallen to the ground once again.

      ‘A little premature, perhaps?’ suggested the stranger, with a sympathetic smile as, without apparent effort, he hoisted the boy on to the gig’s seat. ‘Hold tight, my lad. It looks as though we might have to secure you somehow. I must assume that your sister is capable of driving?’

      Ignoring Jessica’s gasp of protest, the man walked over to his horse and, after extracting a length of rope from the saddlebag, returned to Nicholas’s side and calmly proceeded to strap the boy to the gig’s backrest. Then, standing back, he surveyed his efforts.

      ‘That should do.’ He gave a satisfied nod then, turning to Jessica, he offered her his hand. ‘Up you get, Miss Beresford. You need have no further fears of being set upon, I assure you—you will have my escort for the remainder of your journey.’

      Fuming, but unable to find the words to express her indignation at the fellow’s arrogant assumption that she would be unable to cope without his further assistance, Jessica could only do as she was bid. It was not until she was in her seat and had taken up the reins that the thought occurred to her that the man had addressed her by name.

      ‘How do you suppose he knows who we are?’ she muttered to Nicholas in a low voice, as she watched the tall stranger vault nimbly into his saddle and swing his mount round. ‘Do you think he could be another felon—some sort of accomplice?’

      ‘Odd sort of accomplice to go shooting his comrades,’ returned her brother, who was feeling far from well. ‘Don’t be such a goose, Jess! The fellow has done us a good turn—though how the devil we are going to explain all this to Matt defies thinking about!’ Then, clasping his hand to his throbbing head, he begged, ‘Do let us get on!’

      Chapter Two

      For the first hundred yards or so, their escort remained behind the carriage, his clear grey eyes carefully scrutinising the terrain, both to the front and to the rear. Gradually, though, as the little party approached the more populated areas, the horseman drew closer and closer until, eventually, he was abreast of the gig. Then, after riding alongside in silence for some minutes, he spoke.

      ‘Your brother is recovering from his shock, I trust?’ he asked pleasantly.

      ‘He appears to be doing very nicely, thank you, sir,’ replied Jessica, without turning her head. Keeping her eyes firmly on the road ahead, she was pondering the man’s remark. How was it that he knew her name and how could he have known that Nicholas was her brother? That this man—whoever he might be—seemed to be in possession of so much information about their circumstances concerned and puzzled her greatly.

      But then, as the silence between them continued at length, Jessica’s conscience began to smite her as, somewhat belatedly, it occurred to her that she had made no attempt to offer the man her gratitude for his timely intervention.

      ‘I fear that we are greatly in your debt, sir,’ she began primly, only to be interrupted by his smothered laugh. Swinging her head sideways, she glared at him. ‘Have I said something to amuse you, sir?’

      ‘Not at all, ma’am,’ he returned promptly. ‘I am glad that I was able to be of some service!’

      Although his face was not turned in her direction, it was not difficult to see that it was creased in a wide grin. In the midst of her outrage, she was astonished to find herself thinking what a devilishly handsome creature he was when he smiled. Biting her lip in exasperation, she racked her brains to find a less stilted way of expressing her gratitude.

      ‘I simply cannot imagine why those men should have chosen to waylay us,’ she eventually managed. ‘I should not have thought that this shabby carriage was the sort of vehicle that would lend itself to a hold-up!’

      ‘It possibly had more to do with the way in which you were flashing your blunt, back at the Rose and Crown,’ he offered.

      ‘Flashing my…!’ For a moment, Jessica was lost for words, but then, as a most disturbing thought entered her head, she found herself filled with a desperate need to vanquish her sudden suspicions.

      ‘I take it, then,’ she said carefully, ‘that your arrival back there was not just some lucky coincidence?’

      ‘Hardly!’ was his astonishing reply. ‘I was right behind you from the moment you left the inn!’

      Her heart sank. ‘W-why was that?’ she asked, unable to prevent the tremble in her voice.

      ‘Because of those two fellows,’ he replied casually. ‘I was aware that they had been watching you for some little while in the inn’s stable yard and then, when I saw them make off through the back woods, it seemed pretty clear to me what they were about.’

      A flicker of relief ran through her, but then, ‘But why did you not see fit to warn us about them?’ she demanded indignantly.

      There was a moment’s silence. ‘I rather got the impression that you were not the sort of young lady who would take kindly to a piece of friendly advice from a total stranger,’ he replied at last.

      Now thoroughly affronted, Jessica snapped, ‘What utter nonsense! If you knew that a felony was about to be committed, it was your duty to inform us!’

      ‘Well, it is not exactly true to say that I knew they were up to no good,’ he retorted, his hackles rising. ‘Their furtive behaviour merely led me to believe they might well be—which is why I followed your carriage!’

      ‘And then waited until they had attacked us!’ was her withering retort.

      Taking a deep breath, the man gave a brief nod. ‘That was an unfortunate error on my part,’ he admitted stiffly. ‘I had not expected violence—their kind is, usually, only in it for the pickings. They like to terrify their victims into a quick surrender of their valuables and then make off, as fast as they can. Insofar as I have been led to believe, they tend to pick upon travellers who do not look as though they are able to take care of themselves—such as your brother and yourself. I doubt that they were prepared for retaliation.’

      Just as she herself had supposed at the time, thought Jessica ruefully. If only Nicky had kept quiet! But then, another thought flashed into her mind.

      ‘You were perfectly content to see us robbed, then?’ she flung at him.

      His face darkened. ‘If you will go round flourishing bundles of notes under people’s noses,’ he replied calmly, ‘you can hardly complain when the inevitable occurs!’

      Hurriedly recalling her efforts to persuade the gig’s owner to part with his carriage, Jessica’s cheeks reddened. Although she was bound to admit that there might СКАЧАТЬ